Epson 2200 magenta caste (I know, another one)

[hfritsche]

<p>Hey folks,<br>

I have an Epson 2200 that has served me well for years. Recently I upgraded from PS CS3 to CS5 and yesterday I tried to do some printing. All of my images came out with a strong magenta caste. I Googled the problem and made sure that I was set up correctly (no double profiling). That didn't help. Finally, I reinstalled the printer/drivers. Nothing seemed to help but suddenly, not sure exactly why, it began printing perfectly. I finished the day's session and went to bed happy.<br>

Today.... the problem is back and I can't seem to make it go away. Here are the particulars regarding yesterday vs. today...<br>

1) This problem seems to only occur with Photoshop... both CS5 and CS3. Lightroom 3 prints OK as does other software such as Excel, the test page, etc.<br>

2) Yesterday when I quit, I turned the printer off but not the computer.<br>

3) Yesterday, when things finally worked correctly, my printer settings were "sticky" between prints. Today (and yesterday before things got OK) I had to reset the printer parameters between each print.<br>

4) Printer seems to print only in high-speed mode. It lays down the ink pretty fast. Yesterday when it printed good, it laid the innk down much more slowly.<br>

I have gone through every CS5 setting I can think of. All appears correct. I am using Epson ink/papers so that isn't the issue. Even if it was, it wouldn't suddenly cure itself and then go back again. This caste isn't subtle.<br>

I would appreciate any good ideas.<br>

Harold<br>

OS Windows 7</p>

 

[shirleyb]

<p>When you have hit print and then I think the screen comes up with the picture and the sizing etc, have a look at the drop box for the printer profile, it reverts sometimes to Adobe RGB which looks right, but it should be the paper profile. I have this problem every time I use the Artisan printer to print, it changes it to Adobe RGB and it takes me forever to remember that it needs the paper profile when I switch back to my 7600. You always know its a little drop box somewhere</p>

[hfritsche]

<p>Shirley,<br>

Thx for the suggestion, but nope... that isn't happening.<br>

Harold</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>... how do you EXACTLY print from Photoshop?</p>

<p>what paper profile do you use? Epson2200Luster_PK for example?</p>

<p>post some screen capture of the Photoshop print window with the setting you use AND post a screen capture of the epson setting that you use...</p>

<p>Im sure, like 99% of the other problem, that this is just a error 18...</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Have you cleaned the printer heads? I'ld try that first. Sounds like the heads may be intermittently clogging with dust and humidity.</p>

[johnw436]

<p>I would reload the printer driver. If that doesn't help I'd begin looking at the printer. When color casts come and go it is often due to ink starvation on one color or a dirty print head. A head can go clean/dirty/clean depending on how it rides across a dirty wiper at the capping station.</p>

<p>What does your nozzle check look like?</p>

<p>If your nozzle check is bad, do a cleaning using the maintenance utility. ONCE. If that does not fix the nozzle check then I'd say you have a very dirty print head or a wiper with an ink booger on it. Don't spit all your expensive ink in the gutter by doing print head cleaning after print head cleaning through the nozzle check maintenance utility. Actually take a piece of paper towel (lint free towel is best) and wet it with warm water. Hold it directly to the print head with very light pressure. The damp towel will wick away the ink stuck to the print head. DON'T WIPE. You can damage the print head.</p>

<p>If you pull the towel away and it is really coated, then you need some solvent. (A clean head will have bands of individual colors. A dirty head will make the towel look like the ink is mixed together such as blotches of indicriminant color.) If you need solvent, Windex will do in a pinch. Spray it lightly on the towel and first clean around the outside edge of the print head. If lots of goo comes off then the wiper is not doing its job when the print head exits the capping station. You probably need to deep clean the wiper and the rim of the capping station. Qtips work well for that. Hot water, or a little Windex might be necessary if the Qtip keeps pulling off ink.</p>

<p>If you get little flakes of what looks like rubber, don't be afraid. That is dry ink. There is no part of your printer that will decompose into little strands of rubber. It's ink.</p>

<p>If your nozzle check fails, but the head is not dirty, then you could be sucking air into a damper on the print head. Pull your ink carts and reseat them.</p>

[hfritsche]

<p>Thx for the suggestions guys. I have reloaded the drivers... several times. I discount any suggestion of my settings being incorrect as I have been using this printer for a long time without issues. Although my printer head could probably stand cleaning, I don't think that is the problem because of the nature of the problem. When the printer works correctly, it works perfectly... and when it doesn't, it REALLY doesn't. No in-between.<br>

Today, I must report that it has magically come back to normal. Go figure.<br>

If it stays this way, I'll probably chalk it off to bad karma or halucination or something. We'll see.</p>

<p>Harold</p>

[johnw436]

<p>I don't know if you're still checking this thread, but a very likely cause of an intermittant problem could be the ribbon cable that controls the print head. I don't know why this didn't occur to me before. Cheap to find out. But if it mysteriously goes and comes, that does sound like a plausible electrical issue and the ribbon cable is the most likely culprit since it flexes every time the print head runs back and forth. Obviously it would be worth checking connections before buying a cable. </p>